Nintendo Direct E3 2013 Post Show Analysis

Nintendo took the unconventional approach for this E3, and hosted a video feed of game announcements instead of a press conference. How did that work out for them?

Nintendo started the show by announcing that the new 3DS title Pokémon X and Pokémon Y would be getting a worldwide release of October 12. The new game will also add a new Pokémon type, called Fairy type, which are effective against Dragons.

One of Nintendo's strengths has always been in creating awesome platforming titles, and the company announced two new platformers during its show: Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze and Super Mario 3D World. Both of these games look great. Metroid Prime developer Retro will continue to work on the Donkey Kong series. This time around arctic
creatures are invading Donkey Kong's turf and he'll have to team up with Diddy and Dixie Kong to kick them off the block. Super Mario 3D World's multiplayer friendly gameplay will take cues from Super Mario Bros. 2, meaning each character has unique abilities. Peach can float, for example. A new power up, called the cat suit, allows Mario to climb walls and slash at his enemies with deadly claws.

Watch the entire E3 press conference in the video above.

One of Nintendo's biggest problems has always been a lack of third-party support, and while the company hasn't completely turned that around, it didn't announce a few big third-party titles, such as a new RPG from Xenosaga creator Monolith Soft and two titles from Platinum Games, the sequel to action fest Bayonetta and the Pikmin-like The Wonderful 101. For more details on some of the Wii U and 3DS's upcoming releases check out our story on Nintendo's sizzle real. Sadly, many of these games, including Bayonetta and titles like Batman: Arkham Origins, and Splinter Cell: Blacklist have already been announced and it would be great to hear about some more unannounced third party titles.

Nintendo is still appealing to the casual audience with games like Wii Fit U, and Wii Party U, but unfortunately, both of those titles are facing delays. Wii Fit U will be released this Winter and Wii Party U will be out this Summer. However, Nintendo's biggest announcement was showing off the new Super Smash Bros. game for both Wii U and 3DS, which introduces Capcom's Mega Man to the fray.

Nintendo announcements are cool, and many of its first-party games are undeniable great, but compared to Microsoft and Sony's conferences, which were both full of big game announcements and big console news, Nintendo's news feels less epic. The Wii U's graphics are also beginning to look dated compared to the Xbox One and PS4's upcoming releases, which was to be expected, but is still sad. We also find it strange the the company made no mention of Pikmin 3, Yarn Yoshi, or the new Zelda game that Nintendo hinted at last year.

In short, we're excited for several of Nintendo's upcoming titles, but it doesn't feel like the company is doing enough to compete with Sony and Microsoft at this point.